Breastfeeding for one year reduces cancer risk

MOTHERS who breastfeed for a year over the course of their lifetime are almost 5% less likely to develop breast cancer, an expert said yesterday.

Analysis by Dr Rachel Thompson, science programme manager for World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), showed that breastfeeding for a year in total reduced a woman’s breast cancer risk by 4.8%.

Breastfeeding has been linked to lower obesity levels in children and is known to confer immunity to the newborn against a clutch of infections, including respiratory diseases.